If You See Something . . .

. . . frist check the return address. Then freak out about it:

A suspicious package with a return address in Saudi Arabia set off a police response that led to the evacuation of an Elm Park neighborhood last night and forced Little Leaguers from their baseball diamonds.

In the end, the small cardboard box was found to contain nothing more dangerous than about 20 hardcover and paperback books on myriad topics, including Middle Eastern culture and the Islamic religion.

Jacqueline DeJesus found the package, which had a shipping label from Riyadh, on the front stoop of her Princess Street home and immediately grew concerned.

“It had my eldest daughter’s first name on it and my address and that was it,” she said. “I’m Puerto Rican and American and have no family in Saudi Arabia, so I have no idea how it ended up here.”

Her daughter is married to a man who emigrated from the Middle East. But Ms. DeJesus said she wasn’t expecting any mail from overseas.

At about 7 p.m., cops evacuated Mrs. DeJesus, her family and neighbors, and stopped games in progress on the nearby West Shore Little League and Babe Ruth League fields.

The NYPD Bomb Squad responded within the hour and — after careful examination — determined that the box didn’t pose a threat.

Now, Darling, Wish!

What should I wish for, Mother?

A gentleman caller:

Administrators at St. Peter’s Girls High School have mandated that juniors wanting to attend the May 22 prom must be escorted by male companions.

Even students unaffected by the sudden policy change at the New Brighton school said they don’t understand the couples-only rule.

“I just heard about it now; they can’t go unless they have a date,” said senior Deanna Stropoli, 17, of Dongan Hills, who is attending tonight’s senior prom with a boyfriend. “I think it’s kind of messed-up. Some people aren’t going to be able to go.”

There is no such restriction on the senior prom.

School interim principal Florence Bricker wouldn’t comment this week on the policy, which is a change from previous years, and St. Peter’s R.C. Church Monsignor James Dorney said it was strictly a school matter.

Other Staten Island all-girls high schools polled by the Advance said yesterday they have no such policy for their junior proms.

The city Department of Education doesn’t have a formal policy governing proms at public schools, but a spokeswoman said yesterday that a dates-only dance would be “highly unlikely.”

“It wouldn’t happen in public schools — everyone’s invited,” said DOE spokeswoman Margie Feinberg, although she said prom arrangements are up to each school.

St. Peter’s always has declined to divulge its student numbers, but the total is thought to be less than 300. The couples-only policy might have been enacted with an eye to boosting attendance at the prom.

But seriously, who has a prom on a Thursday? When did that happen?

Odd, Seeing That Marine Vessels Are Frequently Personified As Female . . .

Until recently, the ferries that run back and forth between St. George and the Battery did not have a women’s locker room, which, until recently, wasn’t a big concern:

Part navigator, part security guard, part enforcer and part salty sea dog, Felicia Rosario, a petite and pretty 23-year-old from Queens, tends to forget that some passengers might not be used to seeing a female mate aboard the Staten Island Ferry.

With a year and a half under her belt at the Ferry, the veteran captains, mates and deckhands she works with say she’s part of the family — one of the guys.

But it’s the frequent “you go, girl” comments from passengers or the men who “look at me like I have three heads” that remind her that, to some, finding a woman with her job description is still a novelty.

“I get so many ‘girl powers,’ like I’m doing some great thing for womanhood. I don’t really see it that way. It’s just work.”

A graduate of State University of New York Maritime College, she majored in marine environmental science.

After a turn as a crew member on dinner cruise boats in New York Harbor, she came to the Ferry. She is now one of four female ferry mates.

. . .

The afternoons are full of tourists, but even though they’re a “headache,” with constant questions of “can we stay on the boat?” upon docking when all passengers must disembark, and a surprising number who lose their children, she would gladly cope with that in favor of her last assignment — the overnight shift on the weekend boats.

That shift, she said, is famous for “a lot of vomit and obscenities,” and the occasional “man overboard” checks, especially around the holidays.

“Compared to that, everything is roses,” she said.

Ms. Rosario may be “one of the guys,” but it’s still nice to have her own digs.

Her favorite boats are the new Marchi-class vessels that contain a luxury not afforded on the others — a female locker room.

“You can’t beat that,” she said.

And even in her uniform, she still manages to keep one girly touch — under the black gloves she wears to pull the heavy hooks that secure the boats to the slip is an engagement ring from her fiance, who is currently at sea aboard a container ship.

Location Scout: Staten Island Ferry.

Perfect Time To Release Those Commemorative Stamps Celebrating The 119th Anniversary Of Washington Statehood

In other news, the Advance reports that mail service is still widely used on Staten Island:

Don’t disregard the extra pennies you find laying around the house or car — you might need them Monday.

That’s when the price of mailing a first-class letter increases 1 cent, to 42 cents, along with a number of other postal rate hikes that take effect.

But there is a way to avoid paying more to mail a letter.

Forever stamps, which can be used after the hike, can still be bought at the old 41-cent price. But the cost of the Forever stamp will also increase Monday, to 42 cents.

Those still having unused 41-cent stamps will be able to purchase a new 1-cent stamp — the Tiffany Lamp — to make up the difference. Several new 42-cent stamps are also available.

The passage of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act in 2006 allows the Postal Service to increase its rates every May in accordance with the rate of inflation as indicated in the Consumer Price Index.

How Do Deer Get To Staten Island?

It’s not the start of a joke. They swim:

Apparently, the deer population in Staten Island has been going up, and Friday, for the first time, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will release its first ever count of deer in the borough.

And these clever creatures aren’t taking the ferry or Verrazano like the rest of us, they’re swimming over.

“We suspect that they they are swimming over from New Jersey, deer are strong swimmers and the Arthur Kill is a narrow body of water,” said Arturo Garcia-Costas, of the NYSDEC.